Cuddles of Comfort
by Via Violet
Summary: When Coraline wakes from a horrifying nightmare, Wybie is her knight in a sweatshirt.
1. Sleeping Soundly

Running, running, falling. My lungs and legs burn from running to escape her. My mind is terrorized with panic, the fear of her. Oh god, she's gaining on me, I don't want to die.

" **Coraline! There you are dearie**!" The Beldam called in her harpy tone. She trapped me under her spider form, venomous fangs dripping on my face as her metal fingers cut into my arms. " **YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD ESCAPE ME AGAIN LITTLE GIRL?! Oh, no, no, no! THIS time I'm going to PLUCK YOUR EYES FROM THEIR SOCKETS AND THEN I'M GOING TO EAT YOU, PIECE BY PIECE! HA HA HA HA**!" Her hands were inching closer and closer to my face as I screamed and tried to kick her off…

"AHHH!" I shrieked and shot up in bed, shaking with fear. Slowly, with quivering breaths, I stood up and padded down the hall to my parents' room. I pushed open the door only to find the bed neatly made and void of my parents. "O-oh, that's r-right. Their at the m-m-mulch convention this week. And I'm all a-alone. By myself. Again." I started to whimper as the tears slid down my face. "I c-can't do this anymore! I can't be alone!" I sobbed and thought of who I could go to. Miss Spink had died two years ago, just a few days after my fifteenth birthday and Miss Forcible had moved out, saying she didn't want to be so close to where her best friend left her. Mr. Bobinsky was staying with his new girlfriend, Anya, who knows when he'll be back. That left me with Wybie.

Pursing my lips, I walked back to my room, picked up my phone, and dialed his number.

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I was sleeping peacefully in my bed until I was startled awake by my phone blaring Jailhouse Rock by the one true King. I groped around my nightstand until I found the clamoring object and glanced at the caller-id. "Cora? What is she doing up so late?" I pressed accept and waited for her to talk.

"W-wybie? Are you t-there?" Her trembling voice asked. Immediately I knew something was up, she never calls with an unsure voice this late, normally, she has some terrific idea for what we should to do after school.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm here Jonesy, what's wrong?" I told her quietly, I don't know why though, because Grandma wasn't home, she was at her "Granny Gathering" as I called it.

"I-I-I, I just r-really need someone to be with r-right now. I c-can't be alone in this h-house anymore. Do y-you t-think you could come over n-now? I'm r-really scared of _her_. P-please?" She cried out to me. Oh god, how could I say no to Coraline pleading? That's the thing, I just couldn't.

"Alright Cora, don't panic, I'll be right over, don't cry okay?" I said gently.

"Okay." She sniffled and hung up. I quickly jumped out of bed, slipped on some shoes and pulled a sweatshirt on over my wifebeater. I grabbed the keys to my motorcycle and headed out to Coraline's house. When I got there, I noticed that all the lights were off except for her bedroom light and her hallway light. I unlocked the front door with the key that she'd given me a few years ago and went straight upstairs.

"Jonesy? You up there?" I heard some shuffling as she appeared in the entryway of her room.

"Yeah, I-I'm here." She whispered, wiping a falling tear from her eye. I immediately rushed to her side and crushed her into a big hug.

"Oh, Cora, it's okay. You're okay. I'm here, I'm not going to let anything happen to you, alright? I'm here for you okay?" I cooed to her and ran my hands through her cobalt locks as she gripped my shirt tightly and sobbed into my chest. We stayed like that for a good twenty minutes, until I silently closed her door and ushered her to her bed. Luckly, a few years ago, Coraline's dad found a queen-sized bed on sale at the mattress store that was going out of business so we don't have to squish into her old twin bed. Once we were settled in, I pulled the comforter over us and Coraline snuggled up to me once again. She started to cry again and shake with fear.

"Cora, what's wrong? Do you want to talk about it? It's not like you just to break down like this." She sniffled and mumbled her horrifying nightmare to me.

"I-I was so scared. S-s-she was gonna eat me and t-take my eyes! A-and, a-and then when I w-woke up I was a-all alone! I d-don't w-ant to be a-alone anym-more… P-please, don't… Please don't l-leave me Wybie, I-I can't d-do it anymore. I t-try to be tough, b-but I can't handle it anymore. I'm so afraid." She confessed quietly, and I pulled her closely to me, smoothing out her hair.

"You don't have to a big, tough girl anymore, Cora. I'll be your big, tough boy, how's that-"

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He's my best friend, and when he said that, I feathered my lips over his, in a light kiss.

"Thank you Wybie, thank you so much." I whispered, and fell asleep, the comfort of him was just enough to finally let my mind rest.

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Oh, god. Now how am I supposed to sleep? After the moment that I've been waiting since I was twelve just happened. Oh, dear, it looks like I'm going to have _a lot_ to talk about tomorrow.

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Hey guys! I'm sorry that it's been a million years, but I'm back... Sorry, everytime I tried to write something, my page would refresh and bam! All my hard work is gone! So, that kept ticking me off, but I finally got it to work! Sorry again! Please forgive me?

All my Love,

Violet


	2. Morning Kisses

I woke up to a loud purring in my ears and a hairy tail on my nose. I knew right away who the culprit was.

"Cat, get off my head." I mumbled, about to swat at his legs, but I found my arms were pressed between my chest and another and a pair of warm, strong arms that were obviously not my own were wrapped around my body. Wybie. Wybie had answered my call of help and had stayed the night. Just as I was about to try to wiggle my way out of his hold he grumbled and pulled me closer. I could feel my face burning of embarrassment, my heart beating faster, and my breathing turning into sporadic ticks. What should I do now? Stay put and wait for him to wake up or try to continue to worm my way out? Then Wybie shifted, stirring me from the thoughts, and used his neck to nudge my head further under his chin, sighing in relief when he was finished. Suddenly, from my nightstand Alexander Rybak began singing,

"Singing Oah, I love you Moa!" Normally, I would press snooze, but currently I was trapped. Wybie jerked awake at the sound, looking down at my red face and wide-eyes. Then realized that his arms were clutching my body to his and quickly fumbled to remove them, his blush growing brighter by the second. He sat up, as did I, and the comforter fell to the floor, with us staring into each other's eyes awkwardly while Alexander Rybak continued to sing about wanting Moa to be his lady. Wybie scratched the back of his neck nervously before he sheepishly blurting out,

"I-I'm sorry about grabbing you like that." His eyes casted down to the floor, scared to look back up. I turned around to shut off the alarm and mumbled in response,

"It's a-alright." We sat in silence for a long time, neither of us knowing what to say. Thankfully, Cat meowed loudly, signalling he wished to be fed. I placed my bare feet on the cold wooden floor, shiver ran through my body and I grabbed my jacket off my desk chair, slipping it on. Just as I before I reached the edge of the room, I tilted my head back to look at Wybie and asked, "Do you wanna come downstairs and get some breakfast? I think we might have a box I pancake mix." He let out a breath, he must be just as grateful for the tension to be released from the air as I was.

"Yeah, that sounds awesome Jonesy." He smiled and rolled himself off the bed and began to trail behind me.

"Okay, I have to feed the mutt first before I can feed us." I laughed and strolled downstairs to the kitchen, pausing at the entryway to pick up Cat's bowls. I filled one bowl up with tap water and grabbed the bag of cat food from the bottom pantry, scooping out a cup and placing both bowls back on the floor. I began my hunt for the pancake mix while Wybie took out a large circular pan, a spatula, two plates, and two forks. After opening almost every single cabinet, I spotted the box on the top shelf of the highest cupboard. I began to jump to with my arm outstretched try to reach the damn thing, but I only seemed to push it back further. I huffed in annoyance, trying once again to grab the box, all of a sudden I felt two big hands grip my hips and lift me up.

"Wybie!" I shrieked, and he laughed, I snatched the box down angrily.

"What? I was helping." He snickered as he lowered me back to the ground. I whirled around to glare at him, the mix tucked in between my crossed arms.

"I was going to get it, _on my own_!" I snapped, annoyed by his tallness. He gave me a look that said, 'Were you really going to get that?' I diverted my eyes from his to the linoleum floor and shuffled my feet. "I _was_ going to get it...eventually." He laughed and reached over my head to close the open pantry, resulting in him being dangerously close to me once again. His warm breathe feathered over the top my forehead, and my heartbeat sped up in response. Wybie's lips parted to let out a small breath, pupils dilated to focus on me. My body felt unusually warm and every muscle in my body screamed to kiss him. He leaned in, lowering himself to my face and I found myself leaning up to meet him. Just as our lips were mere centimeters apart... _Grrrlllll_ , Wybie's stomach growled in protest. Immediately, I pulled back, broken from the trance and my mind went back to pancakes.

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My body was excited, adrenaline running through me as I slowly bent down to kiss her. Half of mind was shouting to hurry up and shove her against the counter and make out with her, but I chose to listen to the part of my mind that told me to go slow, she was fragile, after all. This is it, our lips were about to touch but then, _Grrrlllll_ , my stomach groaned and she pulled away faster than the speed of light. Are you _kidding_ me right now? Are you fucking kidding me? I was a second away from kissing the girl of my dreams, possibly even getting to french her and what the hell happens? My stomach growls because it's hungry. You know what stomach? There is more places in my body that are hungry too, that have went out 'food' for way longer than you have! There are more some needs that are more important than yours! There's no way in hell that I'm going to get another shot like that again! Just as I'm about to scream out in anger Coraline asks,

"How many pancakes do you want then?" She takes a measuring cup off a lower shelf and began to pour the mix inside. "I'm making them plate-sized."

"Four, I'm really hungry." I grumbled. She laughed lightly,

"Apparently." She continued to giggle while she mixed the water in with the batter. "Your stomach is faster than the rest you, hmm?" She teased, still focusing on the mix. Did she just mock my ability to kiss her? She wanted fast, did she? Oh, I'll give her fast, I'll show her just how fast this eighteen-year-old could be. I sneaked up behind her and feathered kisses on the side of her neck, and wrapping one arm around her lower torso while the hand on my other arm danced over her hip bone that peeked out from her black legging that she'd turned into sleepwear. My lips retracted from her neck, I breathed heavily in her ear before nibbling on her earlobe. Her arms dropped from the bowl and she gripped the counter-top. I smiled to myself, at least I now knew that I could win one game with Coraline. I slowed my onslaught on the side of her face and loosed my hold on her, sluggishly, she turned to look at me, her blush stained her white cheeks and her breathing was erratic. "W-wybie?" She whispered, sounding completely vulnerable. My confidence was growing be the second, seeing her stuttering for me and knowing that her red face was my doing.

"Yes, Cora?" I hummed, looking her dead in the eyes. She took several shaky breaths, before finding the strength to speak.

"W-will y-you kiss me a-again? R-right here?" Coraline whimpered, pointing her trembling hand to her lips. I grinned happily,

"Sure thing." I leaned in pressed my lips to hers tenderly for a good long while, her lips quivered against mine and she tangled her fingers in my hair, gently pulling me closer to her and I steadied myself by placing my hands against her small shoulders. We pulled away slowly, both of us breathing heavily, her lips parted slightly and then she murmured,

"Y-you still want the p-pancakes r-right?"

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 **So much sexual tension... Sorry I took so long, I think I killed a good amount of creativity by bleaching my hair 3 times in the time span of a month. I'm back in a art class so my ideas should (hopefully)come to me faster.**

 **All my love,**

 **Violet**


	3. From Every Care my Mind is Free

I went home after breakfast, but before I left I asked Coraline repeatedly if she wanted me to stay which she responded with the shake of her head.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't mind staying here with you for the week, Grandma will still be gone, she won't be back until the end of fall break. Of course I would have to go back and grab some stuff from the house, but I could stick around if you want me to." I rambled, I to really wanted to stay with her, not because I was scared, but because I really like spending time with her.

"Yeah, I'll be okay." She mumbled, her hands that were hidden in her oversized sweatshirt rubbed up and down her arms with her head down facing the wooden floors by the door where we stood. Awkwardly, I cast my own eyes to the floor and inched towards the door.

"Alright then, well, if anything comes up just give me a call… Okay Jonesy?"

"I will." A silence passed over us and I opened the door and walked out with a final wave in goodbye. I hopped down the porch steps and headed towards my bike, securing my helmet on my skull before straddling my bike and driving off.

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Two days had passed and I had had no contact with Jonesy. No text, no call, no Batman signal in the sky, okay that was a bit of a stretch, but you get the point. I swear I must've driven past her house at least a thousand times, just hoping that on the rare chance she'd see me and run out of her house with her chauffeur hat and a smirk. No such thing happened and I started to get worried.

I picked up the phone and dialled her number, one ring, two rings, three rings, four rings, on the fifth ring her voicemail message went off.

"Hey it's Coraline Jones, if I didn't pick up that probably means I'm out adventuring. Sorry you couldn't make it, but leave your message after the bell!" Her chipper voice sang before the ding went off and I ended the call.

"Okay, maybe she just missed the call, I'll ring again then I'll leave a message." I took a big breath and typed her number again. One ring. Two rings. Three rings, four rings, and then the fifth ring.

"Hey it's Coraline Jones, if I didn't pick up that probably means I'm out adventuring. Sorry you couldn't make it, but leave your message after the bell!"

"H-hey Jonesy, I haven't heard from you for a few days and I just wanted to make sure you're okay…. Give me call when you get this okay?" I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding turned up the volume on my phone so I wouldn't miss her call.

Three hours had went by and it was now five o'clock. No call back from Jonesy and yeah, she could be adventuring like her voicemail said, but we always go on adventures _together_. Maybe I'm worrying for nothing. But what if she needs me but is too afraid to ask? That's it. I'm picking up Thai food and we're going to eat it together at her house. I ran out to the garage, attached the box to my bike and put on my helmet. I whizzed through the Main Street of Ashland, turned left on Walker Avenue, turned left on Parker Street, and finally right to get to Ashland Street. After going down I found the shop, parked my bike, and ran inside, quickly ordering our meals and giving the man a handful of crumpled bills that I earned from working at the auto-shop. I grabbed our food and placed it in my bike box slamming the lid closed before hopping back on. I drove through the leaf-covered streets until finally I reached the Pink Palace Apartments. I tore off my helmet, picked up the boxes, and sprinted up her steps, jamming my key in the door, and twisting it open.

"Jonesy? You here?" I shut to door and began my search through her house. I stopped in the kitchen and set our food on the table. "Cora? I brought dinner." I checked the living room, the study, the dinning room, no Coraline. I climbed the stairs and went to her room. On her bed under a heap of blankets was a quivering lump which I deduced as Coraline. Without switching on the lights, I walked over and sat on the edge of her bed. Gently, I placed my hand on what I assumed was her back and started to rub it in slow, comforting circles. She flinched at my sudden touch, her sobbing pausing for a brief second before she popped her head out of the covers, looking at me with glassy eyes that continued to spill over. I pulled myself farther in the confines of her bed, taking my hand to brush the inky blue strands of hair that stuck to her face with tears of glue. With her eyebrows knitted together and leaking orbs, she launched herself into my arms as more sobs wracked her body. I rested my chin atop her head and continued to massage her back.

"Shh, shh, Cora, I'm here. I'll always be right here for you. You're safe, I promise, I won't let her hurt you anymore." Coraline's grip on my jacket loosened as I whispered reassurances to her. Slowly, her sobs reduced to mere whimpers and she nuzzled the front of my jacket. I couldn't tell if she was trying to comfort herself with my presence or just trying to wipe her nose, but I wouldn't mind either way. Lifting her head from my body, she said,

"It's l-like e-every time that I-I-I close m-my eyes…s-she's there. Just w-waiting to pounce f-for the k-kill. It's a n-never end-ding nightmare. I can't escape, n-no matter how hard I-I try…She's always t-there Wybie. Always." She tightened her grip on me and looked me in the eyes, her own eyes drowning in tears of fear.

"Never again will she get you Cora, she's completely trapped and has been for some time now. I wouldn't let anything harm you." I pulled her against me in an embrace, and she returned with a much softer clutch from her skinny pale arms. In an effort to lighten to the mood, I asked "Are you hungry at all? I brought us Thai food, I even got those potstickers that you like." I saw her nod against my chest and decided to let go of her. We got off the bed and started our descent down the stairs.

We plopped down in the kitchen chairs and opened our boxes to begin eating. At first, I'd ask her a question and she'd give a dull answer, I could tell she was still in her 'frightened and depressed' mind and wasn't ready to be herself quite yet. After a while I gave up the fight and let us eat in silence, but in my head I was thinking of ways to lift her spirits. At about ten minutes, I came up with a solution, but knew I should wait until she finished her food. Unfortunately, a gloomy Coraline meant she'd eat about twice as slow as usual. In the meantime, I decided to pick up the kitchen a bit, loading dishes in the dishwasher, throwing away the stray napkins, and putting back the cereal and pancake boxes in the pantry that they belong to. Coraline finished eating and began to pack away the leftovers in green tupperware bins. I threw away our take-out trash and pushed the table and chairs into the dining room. When I returned to the kitchen, Coraline was looking at me strangely as if I'd just swallowed an egg whole, shell and all.

"Wyborn Lovat, just _what_ do you think you're doing?" She questioned, her arms crossing. I pulled out my phone and from my music I selected 'I Married an Angel' by Johnny Mathis. I strolled over to her, grabbing her right hand and placing it in my left, wrapping my other arm around her waist. Hesitantly, she placed a her left hand on my shoulder as I began to twirl her around the kitchen. I placed my forehead against her's and looked into her eyes all while we continued to sway along to the soft melody. Coraline's eyes shimmered, her cheeks blossomed to a pink colour, and her lips parted slightly with her soft breaths. Carefully and slowly, I spun her in a circle before she winded back into my arms, and I swept her to a modest dip. We swayed together until the end of of the song when I pressed a light kiss on her forehead and pulled away gently. Her eyes were dazzling with awe and admiration, her fear and depression long dead by now.


	4. Too Many Tears

Fall break was over now and we were forced to grab our backpacks and drag our feet to school. The weather was dwindling down to the fifties and forties and the rain was almost as present as ever as it is for the middle of October. I wore my slicker over my school uniform and my helmet on my head because Coraline insisted on safety. I slung my backpack on, hollered goodbye to Grandma from the garage and mounted my bike.

I avoided the puddles from Sunday's rainfall, but still followed the normal path to Coraline's house. She was standing on the porch and tugging at her stubby blue braids when I was pulling up. When she heard the growl of the engine she popped her head up and ran towards me. She opened the back box on my bike and took out her helmet.

"Took you long enough Lovat, what were you doing? Finishing the pre-calculus homework?" She said with a smirk, fastening her helmet.

"Oh shit, we had homework for break?" I groaned and crashed my head on my motor bike handles. "I didn't even open my bag at all the whole week." She laughed at my forgetfulness and swung onto my bike, wrapping her skinny, yellow-slicker-enclosed arms around my middle. I revved the engine and drove off in the direction of Ashland's own stuffy private high school. It was a decently short drive, only 12 minutes to get there and since no one except the kids going to school were up at 6:45 in the morning, we enjoyed our quiet journey.

Once we arrived to school, Coraline hopped from my bike to the ground and yanked off her helmet. She tucked her stray hairs into her braids, smoothed her skirt, and waited for me to finish. We walked towards the building in a comfortable silence until I asked,

"So, do you have any thoughts on Halloween costumes?" She gave a shrug that included raising her hands up to make it more dramatic.

"Nope, not a clue. Why? Do you got any good ones?" I shook my head in response. We continued our same pace inside the school, I went to drop my raincoat off at my locker which was on the same floor as the entrance and Coraline waved goodbye to travel upstairs to her locker.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any classes with the blue-haired beauty until later, but having three out of seven classes with her was pretty lucky if I do say so myself, not to mention, we also have lunch together.

My first class was one of my least favorite, english. Of course Cora would be in heaven right now, she loves literature, she would love to discuss her thoughts on Hamlet. Not me, finding the true meaning behind the words and actions of characters is not my favorite thing. If I wrote a book, all the characters would tell you exactly how they feel, no extra fluff, no metaphors, they'd tell it like it is.

"Wybourn, you've been awful quiet during this discussion. Would you like to add how you would have reacted to your mother remarrying while your father was on his deathbed?" Mrs. Peterson asked with a fake smile. I knew she didn't really care that much, I was one of her least favorite students because I never participated in class.

"I mean, I'd be pretty upset, probably go to a witch and pay her to release the plague on the whole royal family." I sighed while continuing to slump back in my chair. Mrs. Peterson gave me a sharp glare that included the squinting of her eyes before she moved on to the next kid with their hand raised. The class dragged on for another half-hour until she have us our homework. I went to my next class of chemistry and worked on my Pre-calculus homework that I should have done over break while Mr. Warner droned on explaining the next page in our notes. I managed to finish a good chunk of it before the bell rang, signaling me to go to physical education. I entered the boys locker room and was immediately greeted with the smell of Axe body spray and sweaty socks, a horrible combination if you ask me. I quickly changed out of our school uniform and into the gym uniform of a pair of black basketball shorts and a light grey tee shirt.

Lucky for us, it was only drizzling outside, so we got to take our soccer games into the grass.

Because this was a private school, co-ed games weren't really a thing so the girls played the girls, and the boys played the boys.

Teams were picked and because I actually tried a little in gym, I was picked pretty quickly. We scored a few goals and I was on my way to make one myself when I was tripped by Lyle Pembrooke who proceeded to take the ball away from his goal. Thankfully, I caught myself before anything more than my knees got caked in mud. I quickly got up and brushed myself off, my sights were now set on Lyle. I rushed at him, kicking near his shins to steal the ball and when I did, I slammed a shoulder jab at him, making him stumble a little. I passed the ball to Arthur who scored the last goal before coach Westwood called us in with a whistle blow.

On the way in, both Jackson and Arthur gave me a crisp high five with booming words of 'good play today'. I was still a little sweaty putting on my school uniform which was always a gross feeling I had to take with me to math, my first class of the day with Coraline.

I came in and took my seat next to her in the far left corner. She was re-braiding her hair and told me,

"I finished the homework if you need it." She nodded towards her red folder on her desk that had the word 'Pre-calculous' written on it in her curly handwriting. I shook my head and boasted,

"Actually, I finished most of it during science, but thanks anyways." After my comment, Mrs. Vaughn started her lesson and finished it within the first 20 minutes, giving us our homework for today and taking our's from the break. Cora and I goofed off most of the rest of the hour, doing a few problems every once in awhile. The bell rang and we only had six problems done, but that was an issue for later us, now it was time for French. We walked together upstairs to the language hall and once again took our seats next to each other. I spent most of the class complaining how hungry and bored I was, and Madame Diamandis told me I had to complain in french if I wanted my points for the day. So I cleared my throat and started my rant over again this time in french, which made Coraline laugh. I responded to her laughter by telling her she had to laugh in french in french class which in turn made everyone giggle.

After what seemed like hours trapped in that class, the bell rang, letting us run to lunch. I bought my lunch from the school, but Coraline insisted the school was trying to poison us through the food to make us mindless, non-creative students so she brought her own lunch. I got splatter of spaghetti, an apple, an orange juice, and what appeared to be some sort of pudding. As soon as I set my tray down Coraline grimaced,

"Is that melted poop with flies?" Pointing her triangle half sandwich at my pudding.

"Actually, I think it's pudding with...raisins?" I flipped around the goop with my plastic spoon.

"That's disgusting, why ruin something perfectly delicious with raisins? That should be against the law, like how people try to put fruit it cookies, that's a federal offense to me." She took a small bite out of her sandwich, and continued to look at me. I nodded in agreement and went on eating. I finished my food faster than her and started to try to convince her to give me her fruit snacks. The bell rang before I could get Coraline give me a gummy. We walked to history together and I kept pestering her for some. I sat in her seat which I knew would be the last straw for her. With a huff she gave in and gave me half the bag, shoing me out of her spot. I triumphantly stood up and took my seat behind her. I enjoyed each little gooey fruit-flavoured treat while half listening to Mr. Bradberry's lecture on the fall of the Chinese empire. I watched Coraline take diligent notes that I knew I'd have to beg for on test week, I prayed that they'd be easy to understand. Unfortunately, this was one class we absolutely could not talk in because Mr. Bradberry heard everything and would punish talkers be making them recite JFK's inaugural speech, and if we couldn't say it from memory we'd immediately be given a Saturday detention. It felt like this class lasted eternity, I had to hold back from groaning in agony every second. I watched the clock like a hawk, following the second hand like my life depended on seeing it go around. Unlike Coraline, I did not enjoy learning about the past, the only thing that mattered from the past was their music, everything else was boring and old.

I was never more appreciative for the ding, ding, ding, noise in my life. I tugged at Coraline's sleeve to get her to pack up faster. She brushed me off and slowly walked out the door, I was following close behind her. I sighed as we parted ways, I headed off to my last class, engineering, a class that I was good at. I turned my head to see Coraline to slow her pace as she went in the direction of the gym, a subject she never liked.

I passed the loud saws that occupied the woodworking room and went to the last classroom in the hall. I was met with the smell of grease and metal. I quickly tied an apron on, the school did not tolerate oil or any other substance of the uniform. I went to grab my mock build of my project and got to work on the real thing. I made sure to watch the clock so I could pack up in time to race across the school to get Coraline from P.E.. Getting a look at her after gym was a sight in it's own. Her baby hairs that had escaped her braids or ponytails, depending on which way she tied it up, would twist into tiny, wispy curls around her face. Her cheeks would flush, making her freckles pop out, and her eyes would be wide from her increased heart rate. Yep, it was definitely worth running through the school for.

Five minutes before the final bell of the day, I shoved my project on the shelf, put away my extra materials, and ripped off my apron, waiting by the door. I bounced back and forth on my heels, feeling my bag jump on my back slightly. The second I heard the first ding, I yanked the door open and took off, flying through the halls, hearing a few teachers call "Lovat, stop running right now!" I ignored them and kept going. I skidded to a halt in front of the doors that lead out of the gym, I leaned against the white wall while I waited for Coraline to walk out. Kids came out of the doors in streams, laughing and smiling with each other, I searched each face for freckles and blue hair. Soon, everyone had come out, none of them Coraline. I waited a few more minutes, but no one else emerged from the wooden double doors. I furrowed my brows and opened the door, slipping inside. I looked around the room, seeing no other person, just bleachers. I noticed that the girl's locker room was still open and headed in that direction. I listened at the door for voices. I strained my ears, creeped closer inside the space and then I heard it, a small hiccup and a sniffle. Without a second thought I ran inside, looking down each aisle for the source of the sound. I saw a flash of blue and backtracked a row and saw her crouched down on the floor. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and her face was hidden. I went to her and sat right in front of her, brushing her hair away. She jumped, looking at me with surprised and scared eyes.

"Jonesy?" she pulled her knees in tighter, darting her eyes to the floor, refusing face me. "Cora? What's wrong? What happened?" I reached out to touch her and she jerked away, taking her arm from it's place to push me away. When she did that, I saw it, the beginning of a bruise forming on her upper arm. I immediately grew angry from the thought that someone would hurt her. I scanned the rest of her visible limbs and noticed a many scrapes on her ankles and bleeding kneecaps. I gently grabbed her face with both of my hands, forcing her to look me in the eyes. Her normally warm brown eyes were clouded and spilling over with tears, her lips were busted and very chapped, and her hair was more of a mess then my own. "Cora? What," I paused so I swallow my fear and loathing that was taking over, I had to calm down so I wouldn't scare her anymore then she already was. "What happened to you Coraline? Who did this Coraline?" Shame filled her eyes as she tried to pull away, but I held her face still. "Coraline," I let one of my hands fall to her shoulder and gave her a light squeeze of encouragement. More tears fell on her cheeks as she sniffled,

"I-I," a hiccup interrupted her confession. " T-they got mad at m-m-me for not being fast enough, because i-if we were f-first we wouldn't h-h-have to run all, all week," more hiccups took over. "S-so they tripped m-me while everyone else went i-inside. T-they grabbed me and, and," she stopped to rub the mark on her arm. " A-and they kept k-kicking me, o-over, a-and over again while I was down. E-everytime I tried to get up t-they'd grab m-me by m-my hair and p-p-push me down again." She started to shake violently as she lifted her heavy head to look at me. Her face looked liked it did when she thought about the Others. Purely petrified. Her legs dropped from their scrunched up position and I rushed to pull her into a tight embrace while kneeling in front of her. She was limp in my arms for a while before slowly curling her arms around my back, I felt her tremble as well as the wetness on my shirt from her eyes. She gripped my shirt with her thin fingers and cried, and wailed, and sobbed. When the noise reduced to mere sniffles I asked,

"Who? Who were they Coraline?" I tried to be gentle but I knew my voice seemed hard. I felt her shake her head in my shirt as she whispered,

"I-I don't," I cut her off,

"You do know." I wrapped my arms around her tighter and rested my chin on top of her head. "I just want to know who, I won't do anything rash." That was a lie but she didn't need to know that right now. She gave a sigh of defeat as she admitted,

"V-valerie Farce, Summer Newburg, and Kate D-dailey." I kissed the crown of her head and started to pull her up to stand.

"Everything is going to be okay, you're safe now Cora. I'll protect you alright?" She lifted her head to look at me and slowly nod. "Let's go home okay?" I gave her a smile a took her hand to lead her out.

 **...**

I'm so sorry this took so long, I've been working on this for a while and I finally got to the part that mattered. I have a general idea of where I want to take this but I'm still unsure, I'm very open to suggestions. Once again, I'm so sorry for making you all wait, you deserve better for being so supporting and lovely.

All my love,

Violet


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